New Zealand continue their tour of Asia on Friday when they find themselves in Rawalpindi for the first ODI between themselves in Pakistan. There are three of these matches over the next week ahead of five T20 matches which contain more significance.
In fact, with these three ODIs no longer a part of the World Cup qualifying process, they are basically warm up matches for the T20s to come with those five outings acting as preparation for the upcoming World T20.
Pakistan
You get the impression the next few weeks are going to be big for Pakistan. They should head to the UAE as one of the deep challengers in the World T20 but as Pakistan cricket always seems to have, they have a few issues going on off the pitch which is presenting doubts over what the future might look like. Right now though there is the chance for the players who go out onto the park here to prove that the house is in order and start to build some positivity ahead of the World T20.
The ODI side have a bit to prove though because it was only a couple of months ago they were losing to a second and third string England side in this format of the game so clearly they need to improve on that. I suspect their intentions will be all on the 20 over matches to come but with their players having not played in Pakistan for a while these three games will give them a good chance to assess the conditions once again.
New Zealand
The New Zealand team head here off the back of a tough T20 series in Bangladesh and although this is a format they have excelled in over the last six years or so, they have actually only played seven ODIs since they lost to England in the World Cup final in 2019. Clearly they have parked the focus on that format for a while until the two World T20s before the next World Cup have been and gone, but they will still want to keep their eye in.
The interesting thing about New Zealand is they are always more than competitive even though they don’t play the swashbuckling style that an England would play. They have a bowling attack that is extremely reliable and therefore they don’t need the 330+ scores that some sides do. That is when they are at full strength though. That isn’t the case here as they have taken the decision to allow their star players to play in the IPL.
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Team News
Mohammad Nawaz is out for this match for Pakistan because of a positive Covid-19 test which might offer up the opportunity for Iftikhar Ahmed to come into the side. Imam-ul-Haq will be the one to open alongside Fakhar Zaman.
New Zealand are picking from the same squad which they had in Bangladesh recently but Tom Blundell misses out with injury. Finn Allen is one of a few players who could get their ODI debut here while Tom Latham will skipper the side.
Betting
New Zealand really struggled with the bat in the T20 series with Bangladesh but I don’t think that was a reflection of their skills, more a sign of how tough the wickets were to bat on in that part of the world. Conditions aren’t expected to be as bowler friendly here so I think we might see a fairly high scoring opening game. Certainly in this first game I expect the bat to have the edge on the ball if not get the better of it completely.
The run line for this opening ODI is at 497.5 which feels a little on the low side because we only need 250 from both sides, which isn’t really asking a huge amount in today’s world. Both these sides are going to be full of all-rounders so they are going to bat deep which is very much a positive for run scoring. These three matches come thick and fast so the square will be tested. It should be in good condition for this first game so I like the over here.
Tips
Back Over 497.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with Bet365
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